Herbed Salmon Croquettes -- CEiMB

I have been trying to figure out what makes me tired.  There does not seem to be a correlation between how busy my day is and how tired, I am.  Today was not a hectic day, at all.  It was rather scheduled with no extra pressures thrown in.  I even had some computer time before work.  Dinner was planned out although not prepared, in the morning.

I am thinking, it may be my class.  They are a great group and fortunately, I do not have a discipline problem.  Even if they have a moment of friskiness, they will pull back, as soon as they know I am serious.  Today, was a frisky day.  I enjoy these days because along with a little more activity, their minds seem to be more creative.

It came out in our writing lesson.  Fifth graders do not like to write and I believe they need a real purpose to write.  Telling a class to write on one topic is a good way to turn them away from the written word.  Even if I selected baseball, there are some who don’t care about the sport, while a majority loves to play and watch it.  I would lose those who do not like it.  As a result, I give them a lot of leeway as to what they write.

Today, because of their energy, I had them writing sentences that were exciting without a story.  When they got into the spirit of it, it was fascinating to see what they came up with.  What was, even of more interest, was the visualization  children had to the sentences of another child.  We shared what we pictured at the reading of the sentence.  These were obviously varied (the power of reading over television) and we ended up with a mind expanding discussion on where to take these sentences.  I will not be surprised if some good stories come from these.

You just may have guessed, I came home tired.  I have more energy, in the kitchen, than in other activities.  I enjoy seeing miscellaneous pieces come together to a dish to be served and enjoyed.

With the many potatoes, I am making, this week, I decided, tonight we would have salmon croquettes.  I made Ellie Krieger’s but as usual, I had to make some changes, because of the gluten, in this recipe.  I am not even sure, what crumbs, I used for the bread crumbs.  I keep a container with the gluten-free crumbs and I have forgotten what I used for the last batch.  I jump from Rice Chex crumbs to crumbs from chips.

I made a major change by baking these rather than frying them.  While, they were OK , I see where frying was needed for moisture.  Mine were too dry on the outside although, inside was good.  Ellie is known for her healthy cooking and I should have left well enough, alone.

Herbed Salmon Croquettes adapted from adapted from Ellie Krieger  (This is for CEiMB -.   Craving Ellie with your Belly) Stop by the group to see what everyone is cooking.  

Method:

1 cup crumbs
1 small onion, minced
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 cans salmon, drained of any excess liquid
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 /2 celery stalk, very finely diced
2 large egg whites
3 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh dill 
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
olive oil cooking spray

Procedure:

Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and let cool for about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl combine 1 cup of the bread crumbs, the onion mixture, salmon, mustard, celery, egg whites, parsley, dill and pepper, mixing well to combine. Form into eight inch patties and gently press each some additional crumbs on top. (I use a quarter cup measure to mold the patties.

Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place the patties on top.  Spray with olive oil.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes.  Serve with rice, potatoes or pasta and a green vegetable.  I used potatoes and peas.

This is linked to Bake With Bizzy      Hearth and Soul      Frugal Food Thursday!